The DOE report just released was a shocking report and may cause wholesale gasoline and oil prices to rise even after predictions were made for lower prices.

The Department of Energy just reported that oil stockpiles fell over nine million barrels last week, the largest draw in a week in recent memory. Gasoline stockpiles fell two million barrels while distillate fuels fell close to a million barrels. Combine it all and storage of petroleum products fell nearly 13 million barrels last week, a drop of nearly two million barrels per day!

A major reason for the drop in stockpiles can be traced back to the amount of oil imported into the United States. Oil imports were down 10% last week to 9 million barrels per day while the previous week averaged closer to 10 million barrels per day. Hopefully imports will rise next week to avoid another large draw in local stocks.

Other highlights:
Refineries operated at 84% of capacity, a low number for late summer.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) now contains 724 million barrels of oil.

Supplies of all petroleum products are still 7.6% higher than last year.